Jersey City judge orders landlord to pay to house 5 families at hotel after dragging out repairs, leaving their building without gas, hot water for more than 2 months

Five families in a Jersey City building who have been without gas and hot water for more than two months may finally get some relief.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTOThe building at 422 St. Paulâs Ave. in Jersey City has been without gas for over two months. A judge has ordered the landlord to pay for its tenants to live in a local motel.

A judge yesterday ordered that the landlord of 422 St. Paul’s Ave. put up the residents at a local motel, Jersey City officials said.

The landlords, Giglio Banerjee and his business partner Carlos Pereira, have been given more than enough time to make necessary repairs to get the gas turned back on, Jersey City Municipal Court Judge Nestle Rodriguez said yesterday at a hearing.

So she ordered the families to be housed an Econo-Lodge in Jersey City at the landlord’s expense, rejecting the municipal prosecutor’s suggestion that Banerjee be fined $100,000 and jailed for 90 days.

The problems began in August, city officials say, when Banerjee was cited for work being performed without required permits, debris blocking the fire escape, improperly installed water heaters, unsafe structure, unsealed basement windows and an unstable fire escape ladder, Jersey City officials said.

The gas was turned off to the building until the water heaters were properly installed, city officials said. The residents are still waiting.

Bob Keating, an official with the city Building Department, called the situation “ridiculous” and said the city was dumbfounded at how long it’s taking the landlord to restore the building to a livable condition.

Last week, Banerjee, who did not attend yesterday’s hearing because he’s out of the country, was given one week to make repairs, but the building failed inspection on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Felix Montalvo, Banerjee’s attorney, said a series of bad breaks have stalled the repairs. He cited court papers being mailed to the wrong address and a plumber suffering a stroke before he was to re-install the water heaters.

While the tenants are staying at the motel for a week, Banerjee is expected to get all the necessary permits and make at least some progress, city officials said.

Tony Schiovone, the most vocal of the tenants at 422 St. Paul’s Ave., indicated that plumbers had not been working since Tuesday, and that the walls in the building had “exposed flexible pipe.” He noted that the fire escape, which Banerjee was previously cited for, had been repaired.